Gauge paring knife



Aug- 6, 1935- G. WICKBERGH 2,010,208

GAUGE PARING KNIFE Filed Dec. 22, 1952 i .zflzgl/zvnfmm ATTORNEYSPatented ug. 6, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT olFlcE 2,010,208 GAUGE PARINGKNIFE Godfrey Wickbergh, seattle, wash. Application December 22, 1932,Serial No. 648,505

3 Claims.

My present invention relates to the art of kitchen utensils and moreparticularly to a gauge paring knife.

Many attempts have been made in the past to lind a paring knife having aguard or gauge member which lessens the danger of cutting ones self onthe knife blade itself and fiuther permits more rapid use of the knifein that a'gauge is provided which limitsithe depth the knife can cut.Applicant is well aware that many attempts have been made in the past toprovide such a par ing knife. However, there are several considerationswhich must be duly weighed in the production of a utensil of this order.First, and probably most important, is the necessity of providing aknife which will be cheap to make so as to make the articles saleable inthe face of low priced competition. Some attempts have been made in thepast to provide a gauge paring knife formed of rolled material which isrolled around the end of a handle or itself provides the handle; forstructural reasons this is a very fine design. However, most suchconstructions fail as an article of manufacture in that, in order toprovide suitable material for the cutting edge itself, it has beennecessary to make the entire metal portion of material too high pricedto make the article saleable in the face of present competition or theentire device suffers because of cheap material. In the present instancethe applicant has endeavored to make use of the structural advantages ofthe rolled or tubular type paring knife and to supply this knife with acutting edge of suitable material while leaving the frame work of theknife proper of material suitable for the purpose but not of theexpensive character which a keen cutting edge requires.

Therefore the principal object of the present invention is to provide agauge paring knife wherein the actual cutting edge is an inserted pieceof high grade steel made of better material than the frame work of theknife proper.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a paring knifein which, additional new blades can easily be inserted by aninexperienced person.

A further object is to provide in a knife of the character described, areversible or double edged knife so that if one edge becomes damagedanother one is available for immediate use.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a blade ofmaterial different from theframe work proper and which is so arrangedthat it may be reversed so as to 'provide not only a gauge paring knifebut a slicing implement as well.

' Other and more specific objects `will be apparent from the followingdescription taken in con- Figure 1 is a perspective view showing myknife as applied in the peeling of an apple.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal View of my knife a portion of which is shownin section.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal View, partly in section, of my knife.

Figure 4 is a cross sectional view along the line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a perspective view showing one desirable type of blade foruse with my knife.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary perspective view partly in section to morecompletely illustrate the construction I wish to employ.

Referring to the drawing, throughout which like reference charactersindicate like parts, I6 designates a rolled type of sheet metal paringknife which is intended to be secured to normally a wooden handle as I8.It will be apparent it is believed that if the tubular portion of memberI8 as 20 were to'be extended it would in itself provide a suitablehandle. This may be desirable in certain instances. The knife frame worki6 is formed of a substantially tubular shape with a portion of the sameremoved but providing a tip portion as 22 which is curved in conformitywith the tubular form of base 20.

It has been found most convenient to curve, by suitable pressing, theportion intermediate between collar 20 and tip 22 to the end that acurved surface may be more closely peeled. This is shown in perspectivein Figure 1 as applied to an apple and the curve of the cutting blade 24should approximate as nearly as possible to the average curvature of thefruit or vegetable it is intended to pare. In this way a relatively widepeeling P can be removed from any fruit or vegetable instead of theusual narrow peeling which is removed with the ordinary straight blade.This being accomplished with the curved blade without cutting too deepinto the fruit or vegetable and thus wasting the same.

Member I6 is normally made of cheap material of rather light gaugepreferably of stainless material but of material which is relativelyinexpensive and by having the tubular form the minimum thickness ofmaterial can be used and still retain the rigidity essential for thistype of knife.

It is then found desirable to form the cutting edge as knife blade 24 ofmaterial which can nection with the accompanying drawing, where'- 'L Cileasily be sharpened and which will retain its keen edge for a longperiod and when damaged can normally be replaced with a new bladewithout discarding the entire knife. Possibly the simplest manner ofattaching knife blade 24 is by providing recesses as 26 and having theknife blade 24 provided with outwardly extending lug portions as 2S toengage these recesses. Now the material of which blade 24 is made shouldbe fairly flexible and it has been found that the two ends of the bowedblade 24 can be placed in the recesses 26 and then by springing theblade downwardly past the line joining the two recesses 26 the bladewill snap into position.

As seen in Figure ll, the blade 24 is held securely in position by abacking or stop ledge 3Q. Then it is desirable to indent the tubularportion as at 32 to provide a space 34 between gauge member 32 and theknife blade 24. The extent of this opening determining in a large degreethe depth to which the knife will cut. It is then further desirable tofurther distort the tubular arrangement at S5 so that a relatively easyentrance of the knife into the fruit or vegetable will be possible.

In Figures 2 and 3 I have shown the paring knife as provided. with awooden or composition handle ES which is composed of a male portion 52and a female portion` 54. Secured wit-hin the female portion I providein the illustrations a coring device as 5@ and provide within member 52a socket as 58 of suicient depth to accommodate this coring device. Itmay be desirable to substitute for this coring device a hat or curvedparing knife blade of any desirable type.

It is believed that it will be apparent that, following the principlesoutlined, if it were desirable to produce the cheapest possible type ofparing knife, blade 24 might be Xedly secured within the tubular portionI6. This could be accomplished by riveting the same in place or by spotwelding or even soldering the blade in position. This would destroy theinter-changeability of blades but it would naturally provide an articleof merchandise that could loe offered to the buying public at the verylowest prices.

The foregoing description and the accompanying drawing are believed toclearly disclose a preferred embodiment of my invention but itlongitudinally curved walls in said holder, of an arched blade ofresilient material, retaining lugs forming shoulders at the oppositeends of said blade and transversely extending slits at the opposite endsof said opening to receive said lugs and shoulders, and said holderhaving an inturned portion at one longitudinal edge of the openingforming a gauge for the cutting edge of the blade.

2. In a paring knife having a handle, a tubular frame portion, anextension curved in cross section forming a blade holder and an openingin said holder having longitudinally curved walls, and a pointed tip onsaid extension, or a cutting blade of resilient material, means fordetachably mounting said blade in the holder adjacent the opening, andan inturned concaved longitudinal wall of the opening forming a spacedgauge for the cutting edge of the blade.

3. In a paring knife, the combination with a blade holder of sheetmetal, curved in cross section and provided with an opening therein,said holder being curved longitudinally to forni concave walls atopposite sides of the opening and transversely arranged arcuate slits inthe opposite end walls of said opening, of an arched blade oi resilientmaterial, end lugs on said blade projecting through said slits andforming end shoulders engaging the walls of the slits whereby the bladeis retained in arched position, and said holder having a depressedinturned edge along one longitudinal side of the opening forming a gaugefor the cutting edge of the blade.

GODFREY WICKBERGH.

